The case for the Seahawks bringing back T-Jack

The Seahawks are set at starting quarterback, that much we know. But having Russell Wilson doesn’t mean the Seahawks don’t potentially have concerns at the position, not after trading backup Matt Flynn and signing Brady Quinn, Jerrod Johnson and the since-released Josh Portis to compete for that job.

If Wilson starts 16 games next season, the backup quarterback won’t matter, but if he’s sidelined for a start or two, how comfortable would you be with Quinn, a guy who has thrown five more interceptions than touchdowns in his career and has completed 53.8 percent of his passes, running Seattle’s offense? Maybe a fresh start with little pressure will help Quinn, but again, does a team with Super Bowl potential want to count on him for a few games if necessary? Or would you trust Johnson, who is physically talented but who has also never played a down of in the NFL?

Which brings us to the news out of Buffalo Monday, where the Bills released Tarvaris Jackson after one year with the team. Jackson, who spent the 2011 season as Seattle’s starter before being traded to Buffalo for a seventh-round pick last summer, is suddenly available, and the Seahawks just might want to add him to the competition for the backup job.

So why not T-Jack back in Seattle?

After all, he did go 7-8 as a starter in 2011 on a far inferior roster to the current one, and did so playing most of the season with a partially torn pectoral muscle that severely limited his ability to practice and throw at full strength. Could Quinn, who has inferior numbers to Jackson pretty much across the board, have done that on the 2011 team? Seems doubtful, doesn’t it?

Jackson also knows Seattle’s offense having played for offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell in Minnesota and Seattle, and he is very well respected in Seattle’s locker room, especially for the way he toughed it out through that injury.

About the only reason giving Jackson a look wouldn’t make sense is if he is still holding onto hope that he can compete for a starting job somewhere, and therefore wouldn’t be willing to come to Seattle, where Wilson is firmly entrenched as the starter, having beaten out Flynn and, yes, Jackson for that job last year. But if Jackson is comfortable being a backup at this point, it just seems to make sense on too many levels for a Seahawks front office that likes to turn over every stone, so to speak, when it comes to improving the roster.

And don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what Seattle WR Doug Baldwin had to say on twitter not long after Jackson was released: